Chapter 3

Saga and Skeleton king were taken to a large, dark-gray stone building. The guards forced them inside, where a group of men in white robes stood waiting for them. Each of them had a shaved head and held a staff with a golden sun handle.

"Priests, these demons were found outside the city," said the lead guard. He had shinier armor than the others, along with a few colorful badges on the red vest that they all wore over their chest plates.

"As with all demons, take them to the special holding cells on the fourth floor. They will get no food or water," said one of the priests.

"What? I demand that you release me!" said Skeleton King.

"Silence!" said one of the guards.

"We're not demons!" shouted Saga. The priests turned their heads towards him, looks of surprise on their faces.

"This is odd," said a priest.

"You don't believe him, do you?" said another.

"You know as well a I do that no demon has ever claimed not to be. They go insane almost immediately upon capture and focus all of their energy on struggling to escape," said the first.

"We should give them a test," said a different priest. "Take them to the special cells, but give them water. We will decide upon a test for them." The guards bowed slightly and did as they were told. They took Saga and Skeleton King through hallways of prison cells until they reached some with pure white stone and metal bars.

"Great," muttered Skeleton King. Saga sighed, then sat down and looked at his left arm. It was hurting very badly, and he hadn't had a chance to address the problem.

Saga closed his eye and placed his right hand over it. Then he scanned his left arm. After studying it for a moment, he put his right hand on his left arm. Saga took a deep breath, then applied a lot of pressure to the bone, until everything was back in place. Then, he rubbed his hand over his arm, trying to use as much energy as he could to try and heal himself. It didn't do very much, but it did help some.

By the time Saga hadfinished working on his arm, the guards had returned. They opened the cell and took Saga and Skeleton King too a large room with a strange symbol on the floor and candles all around. The two were roughly shoved into the center of the room, and priests quickly surrounded them. They began to chant, and Saga's and Skeleton King's eyes, mouths, and ears began to glow. They tried to run, or attack, or something, but they couldn't move. Soon the chanting stopped, and the guards went over to Saga and Skeleton King to restrain them. Then, a priest spoke.

"We will give you a chance to free yourselves. You must promise that you will go after the mountain beast that often attacks this village," he said. Saga and Skeleton King were all too happy to agree. The body parts that had been glowing before began to do so again.

"You are now bound to your promise. Get going," said a different priest.

Saga and Skeleton King walked out of the village, grumbling to themselves. After that they walked in silence for a while, the enchantment leading the way. Eventually, Skeleton King broke the silence.

"Well, I suppose that whatever this thing is, it'll go down faster if we work together," he said.

"Truce until we get home, or are sureif we're stuck here forever, anyway?" asked Saga.

"Fine," said Skeleton King.

Meanwhile, in the village, the priests were talking.

"If they are demons, they'll never be able to fight the Ashidoragon, an Overlord Demon," said one priest.

"If they come back, then we know that they were telling the truth," said another.

"We will then repay them for destroying the monster," said a third.

Back with Saga and Skeleton King, the two had reached the foothills of the mountains, and in fact had started climbing. Neither of them wanted to stop and chat, so they just continued moving. Soon, they came upon a large cave. There were some blood-stained rocks around the mouth, probably from villagers being dragged inside by the monster. Of course, that didn't phase Saga or Skeleton King, who entered the cave prepared to fight.

Roars echoed from the deeper chambers. Although they were probably meant to cause fear, they actually made it easier to find the monster's lair. When Saga and Skeleton King entered, they came face to face with a dark purple dragon. It had ram's horns and tattered wings. The entire creature looked as if it was decaying, but it didn't give off an aura of weakness. It's presence made one feel unclean…as if its infection were spreading just from being this close.

Saga shook his head and rushed forward. Skeleton King hadn't hesitated and was using his staff to attack the beast, and Saga followed up on the attack. The dragon fired a sickly green mouth blast, which Saga frantically dodged. Skeleton King got to the dragon's side and began to attack its belly. When the dragon finished firing its blast, it turned its attention to getting Skeleton King away from its weak spot. It slashed at Skeleton King, sending him flying into a wall. Saga struck at the beast's neck, careful to keep away from the dragon's blood. As the dragon turned to attack Saga, Skeleton King jumped forward, slamming his staff into the creature's head. The flesh began to rip where Saga had cut it, and the dragon's head flew off.

Saga looked at the monster's decapitated form, then at its head, over in the corner. He left the cave, and went to get some wood. He came back a few minutes later and started a small fire. He burned the area where he cut had been made, then put out the fire and grabbed the dragon's head by the horn. Skeleton King left the cave and headed back to the village, in case there was more to getting the enchantment removed. Saga carried the beast's head and followed.

Please review!